No win in Jordan, but Citroen boss remains positive

The manager of the Total Citroen team, Oliver Quesnel says he’s not too concerned that Sebastien Loeb lost the lead of the drivers’ championship in Jordan.

Quesnel says the competitiveness of the Loeb / C4 WRC package in the early part of the rally bodes well for the remainder of the season.

Loeb was leading the rally on Saturday morning but retired after crashing his C4 WRC into another competitor’s car on a road section. The Frenchman restarted on Sunday as a Superally entrant and finished 10th to collect one manufacturers’ championship point.

Loeb’s retirement promoted Dani Sordo to the lead spot, but he was overtaken by Mikko Hirvonen on the final day and finished the rally second.

"I don't think we will forget the inaugural Jordan Rally in a hurry - it’s been an emotional roller-coaster,” said Quesnel. “Dani and Marc [Marti, co-driver] did all they could to win and only narrowly failed. We left Jordan with our heads held high. True, our rivals go away with more points than us but the competitiveness of the C4 WRC and the superior performance of Sebastien Loeb are positive pointers for the rest of the season.”

Loeb was also encouraged by his performance before the freak accident, and doesn’t think it will be long before he’s back in front. “We are now five points behind in the drivers' standings but they won't be impossible to make up,” he said. “There is still a long way to go this season and the way our C4 performed here was very encouraging."